The 500 Club: Subway reaches market milestone in the Middle East

Subway now has 500 locations in the Middle East and Africa region opened for business.

The Subway restaurant chain,[2] a global eatery brand, has reached the milestone of 500 locations in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.The prior milestone of 300 locations occurred in summer 2011 and in around less than four years, the chain has added 200 restaurants.With such a network of locations, the Subway restaurant chain has become the largest quick service restaurant brand in locations count [3]in the UAE and Kuwait offering thousands of jobs within each country.The landmark restaurant, owned by multi-unit Subway franchisee, Levent Barin, is located in Izmir, Turkey.Joseph Tabet, Subway regional director for MEA, said: “There are still plenty of opportunities for expansion in the region. The expansion of our network aims to ensuring reach to our customers across the region and making the brand more convenient.”Hicham Ghazal, regional marketing manager for MEA, said: “We will continue to serve our customers top quality options that come with fresh ingredients and customized to suit individual tastes. Our continuous expansion[4] comes as a key step to meet the increasing demand for the healthier options with great taste at optimum value.”With more than 41,000 locations in 103 countries, including more than 150 in UAE, 75 in Kuwait and 70 in Saudi Arabia, the Subway restaurant chain is the world’s largest restaurant franchise, in terms of number of locations.Headquartered in the US city of Milford,[5] and with regional offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Brisbane, Miami and Singapore, the Subway chain was co-founded by Fred DeLuca and Dr Peter Buck in 1965.